Kasadela

Love it. Great food, service, and ambience. Classical Japanese with a modern flare. Prices are very reasonable.

I’m positive that the chicken wings will be the most highly promoted on the menu and that is because most of the other items on the menu are satisfying but nothing stands out that is worth mentioning.
The décor is cozy but lacks synergy.
The female servers are untrained and appear to be lost at times in a simple layout.

I happened to stumble on this place by blind luck. I downloaded the Aol On app for my iPad and just viewing the Food section when they had an excerpt on this place.
The piece entailed how they made their wings and just from this, I knew I had to go here. We headed over to this place which is on the outer fringes of East Village around what seemed to be a residential area.
We stopped by for Happy Hour for wings and beer. They had a special of beer (Sapporo) and wings for $ 10 which we got.
The wings came out hot, crispy and the smell made me want to tear into it. It’s exactly what happened. The wings are infused with a variety of seasonings such as ginger, garlic and soy sauce and then fried. With each bite, I was saddened to know it would come to an end soon. Each order comes with about 5 – 6 pieces which are smaller than what you would expect which is why they’re 4 out of 5 instead of 5 out of 5.
For the wings and happy hour, this place is a must visit.

Do not let the schlep from the L train hold you back — this place is awesome. I dreaaaam of the Eel Donburi, which consists of the most perfectly tender and generously proportioned eel I’ve had in NYC.
The chicken wings, as mentioned, are also really great. I’m not a huge wings person, and even I couldn’t resist a few.
We also ordered the Gindara Saikyo Yaki — the waitress said this blackened cod is a delicacy. She warned us the portion is tiiiiny (it really was), but the flavor was out-​of-​the-​ballpark impressive, so it was worth it.
I knock ‘em one star because even after a $ 62 bill (only $ 50 after our 20% discount for checking in on Unilocal!— bonus!), my date and I were still not totally full. This place is tapas-​style, and if you’re looking for a super-​filling meal under $ 100, this is not the best option.
That said? Great, great, GREAT Japanese food — it’s refreshing to see a place focus on Japanese food BESIDES sushi.

Everything went swell until toward the end when our bill came…
So my boyfriend heard this place makes some kick-​ass Japanese wings and that was the main reason we came. Their menu is short and sweet with not much on it. Their items are more on the tapas/​small plate kind of genre. Kasadela is known for their extended selection of sake. Upon seating, we were given 3 menus. one which is of food and the other 2 were all sake/​alcoholic beverages.
Our waitress was really sweet and took care of us well!
The wings were really good but not oh my gawd great. The first batch was nicely fried and covered in teriyaki/​soy sauce glaze with grounded pepper on top. The second batch was a bit disappointing, fried too long and was a bit hard and dry. Agedashi tofu was good, warm and crunchy. Salmon Tartar was not so good, would not recommend. Takoyaki was different and tasty, definitely try it out. Grilled squid was simple but served its purpose, boil and then charred grilled which really brought out the flavor of the squid.
The food and drinks itself weren’t bad but apparently they accidentally charged an extra $ 7 on the bill. I really don’t remember ordering anything in the name of «Itami» so I asked the waitress. I would be perfectly fine if she proved me wrong but nope, even she admitted the mistake. So after a couple of minutes, she came back and said it was a mistake and she’s willing to pay us back in cash the difference. They were able to void the previous transaction which bugged me.
Another thing that bugged me is the whole 20% discount if you’re a student. They only have this special from Monday-​Wednesday. It was a bit of my boyfriend and my fault for not showing our student ID before she ran the bill but before that, she asked us both if we were NYC residential students… after shower her we were, she said we had to show it to her before the bill was printed.
Overall, the food and beverages were alright but the services toward the end was unacceptable and uncalled for from a place like this.
I would say be careful and double-​check your bill for «extra charges».
Note: They DO accept credit cards.

I came here with a friend after work on a quiet day, so I would expect the food and drinks to be at its best since there weren’t a lot of other patrons there. The restaurant itself is small with cute Japanese drawings on the menus and daily specials written on chalkboards found on the walls.
I wanted to go here because of all the Unilocal reviews raving about the tebasaki chicken wings, but honestly it did NOT taste good. I’ve had sooooo many better chicken wings at other places — the wings were too salty (like drenched with soy sauce or something) and crunchy (burnt tasting, not the good crunchy). The drinks I ordered also tasted unexpected, the green iced tea was literally japanese green tea (like the hot green tea you would get at a sushi bar) plus ice, meaning there was no sugar or additive to make it sweet like most green iced tea you would expect from a restaurant.
I did not get to use the Unilocal or scoutmob discount at this place since we ordered from the happy hour menu, which you cannot do both sadly. And the only credit card accepted is AMEX, kinda funny since that is usually the card not accepted lol.

I’m impressed! Definitely worth the schlep over on the L + walking. That’s saying a lot.
This is a small plates/​tapas restaurant that focuses on homier, cozier Japanese cooking. No sushi, folks!
Service was sweet and attentive. The space is cute, homey and trendy without being obnoxious. It’s split between a dining room and a bar. I can see this place being a good date/​meetup spot with the candles and flowers on the tables. It’s a wee bit cramped.
I have a huge appreciation for old-​school Japanese flavors. Everything we got was right on target. I WOULD RECOMMEND IT ALL.
— Tebasaki chicken wings. They come piled like a Jenga tower, big and crunchy with clean pepper and lemony flavors over the sauce. Very similar to Korean wings.
— Buta kimchi (pork belly w/​kimchi). So flavorful.
— Salmon tartare. Fresh, simple flavors with perfect fattiness and richness (salmon + avocado).
— Agedashi tofu. Agedashi tofu is one of my favorite dishes in the world and Kasadela’s was not the best, but certainly good for this side of the Pacific. I loved the spicy carrot (?) purée and eggplant garnish they put on top.
Partway through our meal, we were moved (for the 2^nd time) to another table because they had a big party reservation coming in. We didn’t mind but they were so apologetic and gave us two free desserts to compensate! The black sesame ice cream was lovely. But the green tea mochi ice cream was meh. The mochi was very thin, but not quality mochi.
With a Scoutmob coupon for $ 15 off, we were pretty happy by the end of the meal. This is one of those rare places you discover through a deal and know that you’d come back to again and pay full price for.

YUM. So very delicious! The chicken wings are out of control good. Have an extensive sake list. We were the only ones doing sake bombs that night, but the staff loved it. The yellow tail dish we ordered was also really tasty. It’s like a Japanese tapas place, small plates, good for sharing and decently priced. Cute atmosphere too. Everyone who works there is adorable and helpful, even gave us an umbrella!
One thing to keep in mind, they only take Amex but there is an ATM right next door with a low fee.

This is bold to say, but I’m going to say it: This place has one of the best chicken wings I’ve ever had. They also have a pretty good special: as of this writing, from 5−8pm you can get 10 wings and a beer for $ 10! Not bad. My girlfriend and I opted for the 50% off you get from Scoutmob instead. In the end, we got 20 wings, a beer and a cocktail for $ 21!
We decided to check this place out after having their amazing wings at the Googa Mooga event in Brooklyn last month. After that initial experience, we knew we had to check this place out. I wish this place was a little easier to get to, but the little trip is definitely worth it! Just take the 14D bus to Ave C and 11 St and your right there. The 14D bus also runs every 15 mins, so it’s pretty frequent.
The atmosphere is very laid back. It has a giant glass window in front, a couple of open doors for fresh air. There’s a wall that splits the place. One side has a bar, the other side is the dining area. The lighting is pretty dim when it gets dark, mostly by candles and dimmed lights on the walls.
By the way, the bathroom was also very neat. The service was on point, too. My glass of water was never empty and they made sure dirty plates didn’t sit at the table too long. Our waitress was also very polite.
I would definitely come back to this place even if it didn’t have the Scoutmob special. That was a great surprise bonus to the experience, though. The only reason why it gets 4 stars instead of 5 is because of its location.

Came here last Friday to cheer up my boyfriend after his apartment’s ceiling collapsed while he was trying to eat fried chicken and watch the NBA semi-​finals earlier in the week. Since he really seemed to enjoy the Tebasaki wings at GoogaMooga, I thought it might brighten his mood slightly though I don’t know what to ease the situation of ‘hey sorry that your ceiling almost severely injured you’.
We got there around 8pm and the restaurant was full. The cool black guy with dreads who speaks Japanese greetings welcomed us to wait at the bar. Recently introduced my bf to Calpico so we each ordered it mixed with club soda and lemon. Oishii desu yo! The bar area is right in front of the entrance and very narrow. It’s also adjacent to the bathroom at the end of the room. There’s some cool Japanese toys and comics randomly placed and peaking behind huge sake bottles.
After 10 minutes our table was ready. We ordered nori (much better than packaged ones), potato salad (got two cause it’s my bf’s favorite), Hijiki Salad (watercress & seaweed), 8 Tebasaki wings, Nasu Dengaku (aka grilled eggplants with miso paste) and a special of the night (pork belly with kimchee).
Service was a little slow but the waitresses are very sweet. Food took a while to come out at times. Definitely recommend the nori, wings and grilled eggplant. And lastly for dessert, homemade cream caramel which was like their version of flan. Pretty tasty but not amazingly so. Oh and don’t forget, Unilocal Check-​in gets you 20% off the bill!
The place can get a bit rowdy as it’s not a big restaurant and there were tables poppin’ the huge bottles of sake.

There are scout mob deals for this place frequently, so you can get a 50% off deal (up to $ 20 max). I would recommend coming here with a group of friends so you get to try a little bit of everything. It’s a cute, cozy date place also, although a guy will probably have to pay a lot to be full off the small plates.
I’d probably only give this place 3 stars if it weren’t for the AMAZING chicken wings. They’re the best chicken wings I’ve ever had… so cripsy, flavorful, and juicy. One order came w/​8 delectable pieces. I usually don’t like eating chicken wings b/​c I’m too lazy to get my hands dirty, but these were definitely worth the walk to the restroom to clean up afterwards.
Aside from that, everything else was okay. I wasn’t a fan of the wasabi flavored filet mignon b/​c I didn’t think the flavors mixed well. The miso black cod was cooked alright, but I’ve had better elsewhere.

3.5 stars for food but rounding up for service.
Walked in here randomly after seeing a 20% check in offer on the Unilocal app. After getting buzzed on irish car bombs the general consensus was to make a pit stop for food… specifically fried food. We ordered chicken 3 ways:
1. Tebasaki
2. Chicken Kara Age
3. Kari Kari Chicken
My favorite of the three was the tebasaki, followed by kari kari with the kara age being my least favorite as I found it bland.
Overall a decent option for izakaya and the staff was very friendly from the moment we entered till the moment we left. It’s a little out of the way but it was definitely a good find and a decent value with the Unilocal deal.

I went this past Friday for some appetizers and was only partially pleased.
The place itself is intimate, but nothing special… a lil kitsch.
Their Japanese-​style chicken wings are delicious, and the salmon tartare with chips was pretty good. But the pork belly with kimchee (which everybody seems to love) was awful. I left half portion on the dish. It didn’t smell/​taste fresh, and it seemed that they selected just a few slivers of pork (where was the belly?), badly marinated them, cooked them earlier and warmed up for the moment.
The service was very friendly and sweet. I felt welcomed.

They have the BEST chicken wings. OMG. We ended up getting 2 orders during dinner but i know if we ever go back i’d like my very own order. They are GOOD. Crispy, garlicky, salty/​sweet and juicy inside. YUM.
Host and waitresses are friendly and are always around to check on you, serve the next dish or get you more drinks.
It’s nicer ambiance than Hagi, still comfortable and laid back but definitely higher price point (especially for being that far in alphabet city).
*Sake Sangria: w. ginger and cucumber. Refreshing but reminded me more of a very light mojito.
*Apple Cider Sake (hot): wow. This was really strong. One sip and i just couldnt. This is more hot sake with a splash of apple cider for color and a cinnamon stick.
*Tebasaki: japanese style chicken wings A DEFINITE MUST HAVE!!! Kyochon and Bonchon pale in comparison. If you look around pretty much 90% of the tables are eating this.
*Beef Tataki w/​Green Apple and Watercress: seared tenderloin served cold w. spicy ponzu sauce. This didn’t have much kick but it has really great flavor. Beef was tender, just seared and the green apple and watercress was totally refreshing and brightened the dish. We ended up getting a second order of these as well.
*Rock Shrimp Tempura w/​creamy spicy sauce served on mixed green w/​ponzu dressing: shrimps were small and eh, better was pale and not super crispy. Creamy spicy sauce and the mixed greens were the saving grace. We won’t be getting this one again.
*Tori Kawa: crispy chicken skin. Need I really say more? This comes out with 3 skewers. YUM.
*Gindara Saikyo Yaki: black cod marinated for 3 days in saikyo miso. This had really great flavor but was super small… Fish was flaky and tasty.
*Salmon Skin Salad: grilled salmon skin on bed of mixed greens. Salmon skin had just the right amount of crisp and smoky flavor from the grill. With a tiny bit of meat on one side it was great with the mixed greens.
*Sweet & spicy Squid Tentacles: more sweet than spicy, good flavor.
*Homemade black sesame ice cream: creamy and delicious. I love black sesame anything. This hit the spot.
We had a great time here and I see ourselves returning…

The highlight of this izakaya-​inspired little restaurant is the chicken wings. At first glance, they look plain and unintriguing. You’ll know the difference when you bite into their signature tebasaki-​style wings. It had an incredibly savory combination of pungent flavors which gives you a heaven in your mouth. Step aside MFC, UFC, Bön Chon and KyoChon.
The grilled squid wasn’t really grilled, more like boiled because it tasted bland with a soft texture to it. The sauce was flavorless and the dish arrived to our table cold. Sadly, our squid had no tentacles! Eating squid without tentacles is like eating chicken without skin. How could they?!
Adding to the disappointment was the soggy and sticky rock shrimp donburi. The egg and seaweed on rice didn’t score a difference because it was all mushed up together. If given the same recipe and ingredients, I swear I can make a better shrimp rice bowl than these folks!
The yuzu chu-​hai sake cocktail was doable but it was kinda light. More alcohol and other flavors (I hope) were needed to complement the drink. I tried to inform the floor staff but they took not the slightest notice of my call for attention. Perhaps the joint was too dim?! It can’t be due to lack of manpower because they weren’t too many people there during our Friday night visit.
Even though the dining experience was not the best or what we would’ve expected, we were glad to receive the 20% Unilocal check-​in discount on all food and drinks. If the discount is still available, I would probably return to savor the wings and try their long list of sake with pure gold leaf (yes, real gold!).

A very very out of the way japanese bar & restaurant that is such a surprise to find. I was invited here actually so probably never would have been here otherwise, and I seek this kinda shit out!
This place definitely feels like everyone knows each other, kinda like an choi which also has that vibe. Even if everyone doesn’t, they soon will as it’s so small you’re sure to bump shoulders against your neighbor.
Great food and a decent beer selection. I will for sure try the sake next time.

Hallelujah! They finally accept credit cards! Well I should say credit card (singular) as in American Express, but that works for me.
I went back finally after a 1.5 year drought since Alphabet City is quite a trek regardless of where you really are.
The service and staff were still very friendly and attentive. I think since my first visit, I primarily ordered from the specials menu, I really loved all the food that was there at the time but this time, the menu of course was different.
I really wanted to try the cold seared duck but they were out of that. We had a grilled pork belly and scallion skewer, which was delicious and the squeeze of lemon works really nice with it to cut through a bit of the salty fatty goodness (but definitely is good without as well).
The Chicken Karaage was a bit of a miss for us. It was a bit overly greasy and not anything special. I think the tebasaki wings would be a better choice, which I had during my first visit here.
The korokke /​croquette was well fried but I think the original is too plain for my taste. I definitely miss the kabocha croquette I had from my first visit so next time I come, I would only get a special croquette.
The hamachikama (yellowtail collar) was a highlight. So tender, flavorful. We picked all the meat off the bones like ravenous starved vultures.
We also tried the okonomiyaki, which was on the thin side (ok yeah, it was maybe 1 mm thick). I prefer my okonomiyaki a bit thicker so you can just have more layers and that soft middle as well. There definitely are placed that serve okonomiyaki that are way too thick but I prefer something in the middle.
Kasadela is still probably the best izakaya I’ve been to NYC but that all depends on what’s on the special menu for me, but the good thing is that their specials menu does change maintaining a sense of newness to every visit. I wish the location was a bit more agreeable for me but if I’m ever in the area or even planning a date, I know now that at least I can charge the hefty meal, which is a big weight off my shoulders to not have to carry that much cash on me.

Wow… why did it take me so long to try these chicken wings out???
Kasadela has an awesome happy hour deal, 5 chicken wings and a beer for $ 10… but let me tell you… these aren’t your regular old run of the mill chicken wings… they are a flavorful explosion in your mouth with every bite of these succulent wings! 5 stars for the wings!!!
I went with a group of 12 people and they were very accomodating with our large group, especially for such a small space.
It makes me sad to take away one star especially since these wings were so delicious but we ordered the mochi ice cream for dessert and the red bean mochi was crunchy and weird. I think it may have been very old or something. The green tea mochi was fine however. My friend read some of the Unilocal reviews and said the edamame was supposed to be really good here… um… its just normal edamame, i don’t get whats so out of the ordinary? Also we ordered the seasoned seaweed… again another order of the same friend. It came and i was like… this is exactly like seasoned korean seaweed. I could have bought packages of these at Hmart.
So just fyi… save your money on edamame and seaweed… with all the other appetizing items on the menu… I don’t know why we choose those… lol… oh well lesson learned!
But i’ll definitely be back here… (like on a weekly basis…) lol

The black sesame ice cream came highly recommended, so I dragged a black sesame ice cream lover out here with me. The waitress came up to us twice within 5 minutes to see if we were ready to order. I felt really rushed.
Supposedly people come here for the wings, so I got the special — 5 pieces + hot sake. The wings were nice and crunchy.
The sauce was tasty – sweet and salty at the same time. I also ordered the spicy grilled squid legs, which were not on the menu. They were mediocre. My friend had the vegetable tempura donburi (
), which was nicely fried. The burdock chips were light and crispy— but again, not really distinguishable.
And finally, what we came for – dessert. We tried the black sesame ice cream and homemade cream caramel (flan). The black sesame ice cream was good – very heavy on the sesame, but it could have been a little creamier.
The cream caramel was very sweet but delicious if you like caramel— every bite is caramel-​y!
Dessert was good, but it’s not high on my list of places to re-​visit.

Remember when you were a little kid and you first discovered that spinning around makes you dizzy? Remember how you demonstrated this to mom and dad ad nauseum until your inner ear attacked the rest of your brain to force you to stop the torture?
Nope? Don’t remember that. Well dammit just bear with me and pretend that’s something you did as a little kid too.
Well, that’s how I feel when I think about the items I had consumed at Kasadela. The restaurant was a dizzying flavor assault augmented by large bottles of Sapporo (which, according to the waitress, are the same price as the small bottles… a concept which makes no sense).
Anyhow, here is what I ate:
Sashimi special — This was so good it makes me want to yell at people who say they don’t like seafood.
Nasu Dengaku (broiled eggplant with miso paste) — Kasadela proves that at least two of the former Axis powers know what the hell they are doing when it comes to eggplant.
Gindara Saikyo Yaki (Black cod marinated for 3 days in saikyo miso) — Honestly, this wasn’t as crazy awesome as the description had me believe. It had a very soft texture and was really good, though.
Uzaku (Eel over seaweed salad) — This tasted like the first time I’d ever had eel. I hate Kasadela because now I will compare all other eel dishes to this and probably be disappointed.
Tebasaki (chicken wings) — The glaze on this wings was delicious. The meat was a little tough to rend from the bone but it wasn’t so dramatic that it reduced my enjoyment of the dish.
Kimchee pork belly special — By the time I had gotten to this, I was already getting pretty full, but it was so good that I chose gluttony over the potential health complications that could arise from overeating.
Mochi Ice Cream– It was pretty darn good.
Also I will echo Chris O.‘s statement that they play really good music.
On the action-​movie-​parallel-​satisfaction-​scale, this establishment is a Robocop/​The Matrix double feature at the drive-​in on a cool evening with a hot date.